Citadel to display fragment of steel from the World Trade Center

Many Citadel cadets say the 9/11 terror attacks motivated them to enroll in a military college, perhaps even join the armed forces.

9/11 events

What: A fragment from the World Trade Center will be presented to The Citadel by the Fire Department of New York City and the Independence Fund.

When: 3:30 p.m. Friday, before the military college’s dress parade.

Where: Summerall Field, The Citadel

What: An exhibit of photographs taken by military combat photojournalists after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

When: Available now

Where: In the lobby of Capers Hall, The Citadel

What: The Charleston Fire Department will commemorate the 12th anniversary and honor the firefighters killed during the 9/11 attacks. The ceremony will include ringing the bell in the bell tower 343 times for the lives lost from the Fire Department of New York City.

When: 9:45 a.m. Wednesday

Where: 116 Meeting St., behind the building at one of the original fire department bell towers.

Parking: Street parking is limited, so attendees are asked to park at the garage on Cumberland Street near Meeting Street or the garage on Queen Street.

What: Without Walls Ministry and Hope Assembly will hold a united prayer and memorial service. The event also will include barbecue, book signings and guest speakers.

What: The Art Institute of Charleston will hold events throughout the day. Events are open to the public.

When: Events begin at 8:46 a.m. and run through 5 p.m.

Where: 24 North Market St.

To learn more: see www.artinstitutes.edu/charleston or call 727-0000.

What: 9/11 flag disposal ceremony and memorial service

When: 6 p.m. Wednesday

Where: American Legion Post 166, 116 Howe Hall Road, Goose Creek

That’s why receiving a 3-foot steel piece of a floor beam from the World Trade Center is such an honor for the school, said Citadel fine arts instructor Tiffany Silverman.

At a special event before Friday’s dress parade, representatives from the Fire Department of New York City and the Independence Fund will present the fragment to The Citadel. The public is invited to attend.

Bo Moore, dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, said the gift came to The Citadel through a member of the school’s advisory board who had connections to the FDNY and the Independence Fund, a nonprofit group that provides assistance to wounded veterans.

“It’s one of the relatively few remaining fragments,” Moore said. “The supply has diminished significantly over the past 12 years.”

Moore said the fragment will be permanently displayed in the lobby of Capers Hall. The school has converted an old telephone booth into a recessed display case.

Moore said the fragment is a piece of a floor beam that was stored with many fragments from the World Trade Center’s south tower, although he couldn’t say for sure that the fragment came from that tower.

Silverman said a piece of the fragment has been cut away and removed. Workers cleaning the rubble often cut away pieces of steel, made crosses from them, and gave them to family members of people who lost their lives, she said, so it’s especially moving to have such a piece at The Citadel.

She plans to use it in fine arts classes because the events of 9/11 are so significant to cadets, most of whom were in elementary school when the World Trade Center towers fell on Sept. 11, 2001.

She can’t teach fine arts at a military college the same way she would teach at a liberal arts college, she said. There has to be a link to the real world that hooks students’ interest, she said. The fragment is the kind of thing that will work for Citadel cadets.

The 9/11 memorial initially will be surrounded by an exhibition of photographs taken by military combat photojournalists after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The fragment, Silverman said, is a “living, breathing part of how we carry on our lives. It’s architecture. It’s history.”

Reach Diane Knich at 937-5491 or on Twitter @dianeknich.

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